Tiger Woods' rival Rocco Mediate dubs Major championship rule change ‘ridiculous,’ suggests alternate

Rocco Mediate famously took on Tiger Woods at the 2008 US Open. The now 61-year-old golfer made the 15-time Major champion fight for a win at Torrey Pines with a fierce 18-hole playoff. The United States Golf Association (USGA) later scrapped the playoff format and cut it short to a two-hole aggregate format, followed by sudden death.

Mediate is unhappy with the current playoff format at Majors and has called for a change. The golfer has now dubbed the move to get rid of the 18-hole playoffs as “ridiculous.” The PGA Tour Champions player opined that “every Major should be an 18-hole playoff,” like his famous battle with Woods at the US Open. He reiterated that he was “100 per cent serious” with the demand.

The six-time PGA Tour winner further stated he ‘doesn’t care about TV’ while suggesting the new format change.

Speaking at the PGA Tour Champions' Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Rocco Mediate said, as quoted by Golfweek:

“The 18-hole playoffs are over. Which is ridiculous. Every Major should be an 18-hole playoff. And if you tie, it should be 18 more. It’s a Major. It’s not a normal event… 100 per cent serious.

"100 per cent serious. ‘Oh but TV.’ I don’t care about TV. I want the trophy. Sudden death at Augusta National? What? The Masters, we’re just going to have one hole? TV? Not concerned.”

It is pertinent to note that the Majors currently have different playoff formats. The Augusta Masters follows a sudden-death one-hole playoff starting at the 18th hole, while the PGA Championship has a three-hole aggregate playoff. The Open Championship has a four-hole playoff.

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Rocco Mediate on his US Open playoff with Tiger Woods

Rocco Mediate never won a Major championship in his career. He came closest to winning at the 2008 US Open, and his next best finish came at the 2002 PGA Championship, where he ended sixth on the leaderboard. The former PGA Tour star has since lauded his head-to-head with Tiger Woods and stated that it’s been as memorable as any of his wins.

The veteran golfer said the 18-hole playoff at Torrey Pines, which awarded Tiger Woods his 14th Major title, was “awful fun.”

Speaking about the event from 2008, Rocco Mediate said:

“Oh, gosh yeah. It is (memorable). The most memorable win was the Fry’s two years after. If the Open was the last thing, OK, it was awesome… But I won again after that and that really made me happy, you know, that I won another tournament, which was cool. But no, the Open, I have no … you know if I had three-putted from three feet to lose, it probably wouldn’t be OK to talk about it but that didn’t happen, so.

"When you lose something and get beat, you get beat. There’s nothing else you can really say. It was awful fun trying. That was the most fun I’ve ever had playing golf. For sure. Bar none. I wish I could do it again.”

Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods at US Open-Playoff Round (Image via Imagn)

It is pertinent to note that Mediate made the comments ahead of the PGA Tour Champions calendar’s final event, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Tiger Woods’ former rival currently sits in 20th place in the competition's season-long standings.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods remains away from the competitive golf field due to injuries. He last competed at The Open Championship in June, where he failed to make the cut.